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Comment on Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Briefly comment on the character of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman
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Willy Loman's Vision of America in Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller's 'The Death of a Salesman,' is about a man, Willy Loman, whose life is going downhill and coming to an end. Willy Loman was a good salesman because he cared and was honest and through his personality he sold his goods. Time has moved on, but Willy hasn't. The business world has moved ahead and the way of selling goods had changed, but Willy can't see this. Willy Loman has never come to terms with reality. His life is a dream and derives all his pleasures from the past and he always assures himself that all is well. His problem is that his role models are out of place in the modern business where heartlessness and hostility win the battle in business. Willy's character is full of pride; he doesn't really care about anything else. If he has his pride, he is happy. He has pride in his sons and pride in being independent. He's the type of person who likes to do things independently and refuses help from others; like in the play he refuses help from Charlie even when he lost his job. Willy has a lot of hope in him, he doesn't give up on anything and he will always try his best. 'Willy. I was driving along, you understand? And I was fine. I was even observing the scenery. You can imagine me looking at the scenery, on the road every week of my life. But it's so beautiful up there, Linda, the trees are so thick, and the sun is warm.' This is said by Willy right at the beginning of the play when he returns home because he 'couldn't keep his mind on it.' Willy loves his job and he feels free when he is on the open road travelling to work. I think he has realiz... ... middle of paper ... ...his mother, and she reveals that he has been trying to kill himself, and he is only happy when he hears from Biff. Willy knows he has failed in life and he knows there is not much left for him. He was a man full of pride but has realized there is nothing really to be proud of. He knows he cannot move on from the past, and only figured out one way of succeeding. At the end of the play he commits suicide by purposely crashing his car. He does this because he thinks family will benefit from his life insurance money and they can finally pay off the bills so they can be out of debt for once. This shows that Willy Loman really cared about his family and killed himself for them. This shows the real Willy Loman, he was very caring and determined and he knew there was nothing left in his life so he helped the people he loved.
his future life is finally result of what he is today, he grew up to become a dedicated veteran, a
life, and acting upon his responsibilities in order to follow with his heart, instead of with
him to keep trying his hardest and to not let anything or anyone get in his way.
...tive outlook on things, he shows his emotional strength to handle things in an adult manner.
for him to keep a great deal of pride regardless of his loss in the
In the book Death of A Salesman, author Arthur Miller shows how cruel life can be through the life of Willy Loman, the main character. His feelings of guilt, failure, and sadness result in his demise.
At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his
think it’s because we no longer had to worry about freedom, we filled the gap of
his dream, he will be able to live a life full of happiness and joy. He will experience
to share in his wealth, is undoubtedly in search of a wife. In Pride and
The only time Willy puts his heart into anything is when he works with his hands, and his son, Biff, comes to realize this. "There's more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made."... ... middle of paper ... ...
Willy’s hubris makes him feel extremely proud of what he has, when in reality he has no satisfaction with anything in his life. Willy Loman’s sons did not reach his expectations, as a father, but he still continued to brag about Biff and Happy in front of Bernard. Willy Loman caused the reader to empathize with him because before his tragic death he did everything he could for his family. Empathy, Hubris, and Willy Loman’s tragic flow all lead him to his death that distends from the beginning. He is unable to face reality and realize that he’s not successful in life or at his job; he remains living in a world where he thinks he’s greater than everybody else because he’s a salesman.
It is human nature for a person to desire to better understand themselves and to acquire a distinct identity. People look to what is simple and familiar when trying to gain a sense of individuality. These identifiers can be found in the jobs people perform, the relationships they share, and any other type of activity that takes place in their daily life. It is also in this search for understanding that can cause the relationships a person shares, such as with close family and friends, to be strained. Willy Loman, the leading character in the play Death of a Salesman attempts to comprehend his place in society, but at the same time he loses the one thing that is his source for identification-his family.
matter how hard he has fought, once it is over, he does not look back wishing
Willy's main flaw is his foolish pride, this it what makes him a tragic hero. Yet there are many facets to his personality that contribute to the state he and the family are in during the play. His upbringing of the boys is one major issue, he raised them with the notion that if one is well-liked, he need not worry about qualifications, he believed that if his boys were popular they would come out on top. Sadly, he doesn't realize that the only way an ordinary person can get rich is through work (represented by Bernard) or through luck and good timing (Ben), and Willy missed the boat when it came to ...